Bearing means for automatic shed loom

ABSTRACT

In an automatic shed loom having a weaving roll including a plurality of driving hooks having projections for driving the shuttles, there are provided bearing means for supporting the weaving roll at locations between the ends of the roll without preventing weaving at those locations. The driving hooks are so arranged on the shaft that a helical recess is defined thereby. The bearing means comprise backing rolls arranged on opposite sides of and equi-distantly from an axial plane of the shaft of the weaving roll. Each of the backing rolls is provided with a helical projection which engages in the helical recess defined by the driving hooks, the helical projections being of the same diameter as the helical recess.

Welzel et al.

[ July 22, 1975 [54] BEARING MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC SHED 3.744.532 7/1973 Titov 139/12 LOOM 3,750,713 8/1973 Titov 139/12 [76] Inventors: Giinter Welzel, Keplerstr. 50, I Primary Examiner Mervin Stein f f Germany; Assistant Examiner-Steven Hawkins A-lFnaletdmov Lesnala Attorney, Agent, or FirmNolte and Nolte Klimovsk, USSR.

[22] Filed: Aug. 22, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT [21] APPL N0: 499,694 In an automatic shed loom having a weaving roll including a plurality of driving hooks having projections for driving the shuttles, there are provided bearing Foreign pp rity Data means for supporting the weaving roll at locations be- Nov. 21, 1973 U.S.S.R .7 1967644 tween the ends of the roll without preventing weaving 1 g at those locations. The driving hooks are so arranged [52] US. Cl. 139/12; 139/142; 198/213; on the shaft that a helical recess is defined thereby. 308/15 The bearing means comprise backing rolls arranged [51] Int. Cl D03d 41/00 on opposite sides of and equi-distantly from an axial [58] Field of Search 139/12, 13, 142, 188; plane of the shaft of the weaving roll. Each of the 198/213 backing rolls is provided with a helical projection which engages in the helical recess defined by the [56] References Cited driving hooks, the helical projections being of the UNITED STATES PATENTS same diameter as the helical recess.

1,741,981 12/1929 Dewey et al. 198/213 4 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUL 22 ms SHEET PATENTEDJUL 22 I915 SHEET BEARING MEANSFOR AUTOMATIC SHED LOOM This invention relates to automatic shed looms. More particularly, this invention relates to a novel arrangement ofbearings supporting the weaving roll of such a loom at locations between the ends of the weaving roll in such a manner that weaving can be conducted at those locations.

Automatic shed looms having multiple shuttles which are driven by a revolving weaving roll which also serves to stop the wefts at the border of the fabric are well known. Their unsupported length, however, is limited by sagging of the weaving roll under its own weight. The permissible sag is determined by several factors, including the weft pick line, the end pressure in the bearings of the weaving roll and the size of the bending vibrations. The unsupported length of the weaving roll that can be attained within permissible limits of sagging of the weaving roll is much smaller than the most economical working width of such looms. In order to avoid this disadvantage, it is known to provide-between the ends of the weaving roll bearings which support the shaft of the weaving roll. The operating shuttles are transported in the vicinity of the aforementioned bearings by means of revolving solid screws. However, a disadvantage of these bearings is that they cannot be woven over. Thus, the width of the fabric is determined by the space between these bearings. Accordingly, such looms are limited as to the width of the fabric which may be woven thereon. Moreover, a change in the spacing between the bearings thereby to permit a change in the width of the fabric requires timeconsuming disassembly and rearrangement of the weaving roll.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages by providing, for support of the weaving roll between the ends thereof, bearings which may be woven over.

According to the invention, the driving hooks mounted on the shaft of the weaving roll, the driving hooks having projections for driving the shuttles, are so arranged on the shaft that a helical recess is defined thereby. In further accordancewith the invention, each bearing means for supporting the weaving roll at a location between the ends of the roll comprises backing rolls arranged on opposite sides of and equidistantly from an axial plane of the shaft of the weaving roll, each of the backing rolls being provided with a helical projection which engages in the helical recess defined by the driving hooks, the helical projections being of the same diameter as the helical recess. The helical recess is formed by such arrangement of the projections on the driving hooks that they are successively displaced axially along and rotationally about the weaving roll.

According to a further feature of the invention, there are provided respective shafts mounting each of the backing rolls and gear means for rotationally driving the backing roll shafts together with but in the opposite direction to the weaving roll shaft. Also, there may be provided a drive shaft supported under the weaving roll and backing rolls and gear means for driving, by the drive shaft, of the weaving roll in one rotational direction and the backing rolls in the opposite rotational direction. Preferably, the helical projection on each of the backing rolls corresponds to at least 360 of the helical recess in the weaving roll. The weaving roll recess is of the same diameter as the helical projections on the backing rolls so that the weaving roll and backing rolls rotate at the same rate of revolution and the same surface speed at the helical projections and recess. In other words. there is no slippage in the engagement between the helical projections and the helical recess.

The bearing arrangement of the present invention provides effective support for the weaving roll at any point between its ends without interferring with the weaving.

The invention will now be further described by reference to specific embodiments as illustrated in the draw ings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of an arrangement of a weaving roll and bearings according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation partly in section taken through the drive of the arrangement of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of another embodiment of a weaving roll provided with bearings according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a section along the line E-E of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an end elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 4 taken inthe direction of arrow C in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7' is an end elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 4 taken in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of yet another embodiment of a weaving roll provided with bearings according to the invention;

FIG. 9 is a section along line E-E of FIG. 8; and FIG. 10 is a side elevation of the apparatus of FIG.

An automatic shed loom is provided with a weaving roll I supported for revolution for driving the shuttles and for stopping the wefts at the border of the fabric (FIGS. 1 to 3). The weaving roll 1 includes stop hooks 2 having catch-type projections 3 to 5 arranged helically about the weaving roll 1, thus forming a base cylinder 6 and a helical groove 7 the bottom of which is defined by the base cylinder 6.

At any desired spacing the weaving roll I is supported by backing rolls 8, 9 having helical projections which engage the groove 7 of the weaving roll 1.

In order to permit passage of the warp threads, the stop hooks are held in arrangement spaced from each other by guide hooks (not illustrated) and spacer discs 11. To the shaft 10 of the weaving cylinder 1 the spacer discs 11 are each secured by a respective adjusting spring 12 and, thus, the spacer discs 11 rotate with the weaving roll 1. At the groove 7 of the weaving cylinder 1 the spacer discs 11 and the stop hooks 2 merge into the same base cylinder 6. Therefore, the helical groove 7, the bottom of which is defined by the base cylinder 6, is uninterrupted. In order to assure that the gaps between the stop hooks 2 and the separating books (not illustrated) maintain an exact position relative to each other, guide hooks in place of spacer discs 11 are arranged periodically between the stop hooks 2. In order to reduce noise and wear, the backing rolls 8, 9 preferably are covered with an elastic material such as a rubber or an elastimeric synthetic resin or the like.

The backing rolls 8, 9 are driven by means of a gear wheel 13 arranged on drive shaft 10 of the weaving roll 1. Gear wheel 13 engages gear wheels 14, 15 mounted on respective shafts 16, 17. On the shafts 16, 17 the backing rolls 8, 9 are arranged at desired intervals. Respective adjusting springs 18, 18' are provided to as sure that the respective gear wheels l4, l5 rotate with the respective shafts l6, 17. The shafts 16, 17 are supported at desired intervals by bearings 19, 19, 20, 20. Because the backing rolls 8, 9 rotate in synchronization with the weaving roll 1, the helical projections on the backing rolls 8, 9 always engage the helical groove 7 in the weaving roll 1 without colliding with projections 3 to 5 of the stop hooks 2.

The backing rolls 8, 9 rotate at the same speed as the weaving roll 1 but in opposite directions. The diameter of the backing rolls 8, 9 corresponds to the diameter of the base cylinder 6. The bearing surfaces of the weaving roll 1 and the backing rolls 8, 9 thus move at the same surface speed and, accordingly, engage each other without slippage. Support of the weaving roll 1 by the bearings of the invention is thus simple and reliable.

In another embodiment (FIGS. 4 to 7), at respective ends of the drive shaft 10 of the weaving roll are secured gear wheels 21, 22, which, through additional gear wheels 23 to 28, drive shafts 29, of the backing rolls 8, 9. The shafts 29, 30 are supported by bearings 31 to 36. To assure optimal supporting by the backing rolls 8, 9, the shafts 29, 30 are spaced equidistantly on opposite sides of an axial plane of the shaft 10 of the weaving roll 1. The shafts 29, 30 are connected through couplings 37, 39 to the backing rolls 8, 9. Each of the backing rolls 8, 9 is of such length that it accommodates a helical projection of at least one complete cycle, that is at least 360.

The embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 10 is particularly suitable for the weaving of wider fabrics. An additional drive shaft 40 is provided under the weaving roll 1. Gear wheels 41a, I), c. are secured on the drive shaft 40 for driving the backing rolls 8, 9. The gear wheels 41a,

- b, c mesh with gear wheels 42a, h, 0, 43a, h. c on the shafts 29, 30 of the backing rolls 8,9. The drive shaft 40 is driven on both sides of the weaving roll 1 by means of gear wheels 44 to 46. This embodiment is particularly suitable for driving of several backing rolls 8, 9 at a circumferential speed at the surface of the helical projections thereon corresponding to the circumferential speed of the base of the helical groove of theweavto the backing rolls and transmitted by the gear means 7 to the weaving rolls. It is intended that all such variants obvious to one skilled in the art not be considered to be departures from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: g

1. In a multipe shuttle automatic shed loom, a rotatable weaving roll, the weaving roll comprising a shaft and mounted on the shaft a plurality of driving hooks having projections for driving the shuttles, the driving hooks being so arranged on the shaft that a helical recess is defined thereby, and bearing means for supporting the weaving roll at a location between the ends of the roll, the bearing means comprising backing rolls arranged on opposite sides of and equidistantly from an axial plane of the shaft of the weaving roll, each of the backing rolls being provided with a helical projection which engages in the helical recess defined by the driving hooks, the helical projections being of the same diameter as the helical recess.

2. In a loom according to claim 1, in which the helical projection on each of the backing rolls corresponds to at least 360 of the helical recess.

3. In a loom according to claim 1, further comprising a respective shaft mounting each of the backing rolls and gear means for rotationally driving the backing roll shafts together with but in the opposite direction to the weaving roll shaft.

4. In a loom according to claim 3, further comprising a drive shaft supported under the weaving roll and the backing rolls and gear means for driving, by the drive shaft, of the weaving roll in one rotational direction and the backing rolls in the opposite rotational direction. 

1. In a multipe shuttle automatic shed loom, a rotatable weaving roll, the weaving roll comprising a shaft and mounted on the shaft a plurality of driving hooks having projections for driving the shuttles, the driving hooks being so arranged on the shaft that a helical recess is defined thereby, and bearing means for supporting the weaving roll at a location between the ends of the roll, the bearing means comprising backing rolls arranged on opposite sides of and equidistantly from an axial plane of the shaft of the weaving roll, each of the backing rolls being provided with a helical projection which engages in the helical recess defined by the driving hooks, the helical projections being of the same diameter as the helical recess.
 2. In a loom according to claim 1, in which the helical projection on each of the backing rolls corresponds to at least 360* of the helical recess.
 3. In a loom according to claim 1, further comprising a respective shaft mounting each of the backing rolls and gear means for rotatIonally driving the backing roll shafts together with but in the opposite direction to the weaving roll shaft.
 4. In a loom according to claim 3, further comprising a drive shaft supported under the weaving roll and the backing rolls and gear means for driving, by the drive shaft, of the weaving roll in one rotational direction and the backing rolls in the opposite rotational direction. 